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"Huh. And have you just come from the gym?" He looks at my workout clothes.
"Uh, yeah. I'm better."
"Well, good. All right. Listen. I'm glad you're back. I need you to do me a big favor."
As per usual, he doesn't ask me why I came here. He just launches into what he wants me to do for him.
If he was laundering money through the charity and I haven't been working, he could be having a cash flow problem. It's hard to believe a man as rich as him wouldn't have liquid assets, but I don't even know if he's as rich as he claims to be. Some of the debts I saw in his files make me think he's more desperate than he tells anyone.
"I get you don't want to marry Renzo," he starts.
Oh shoot. He's back to this again.
"But I need you to cozy up to him. Fuck him if you have to, but get in there."
Oh my Lord. My dad has jumped off the deep end. He wants me to sleep with Renzo to get close to him?
"Why, Dad?"
"He's a bad actor."
"What do you mean?"
"I was trying to spare you the details, but he's a pedophile."
My dad seems totally crazed and illogical, but this is all good. It shows he was out to get Renzo this entire time.
"I doubt Renzo is a pedophile. I've known him forever. He's never even been around kids."
"If you press him on it, he'll confess. Get it on tape for me. Will ya?" He rolls his hand like this is a normal thing to ask of me.
He's asking me to frame Renzo so he can extort him.
"Renzo is not a pedophile. What proof do you have?"
His lips press together in a thin line and his face tightens. I've triggered his rage. Good. I want him off balance. "Are you questioning me? I knew his father. He was scum. Trash on the street. Renzo's the same. We have to take him out."
I stand up and take a deep breath, shoulders back. Time to literally stand up to my father. "I'm not going to do that, Dad. I won't hurt Renzo. If he's doing the disgusting things you claim, call SDNY and they'll go after justice. Not me."
He stands too and his hands rattle. He's unsteady on his feet and bending forward at the waist. "Justice? We have our own justice around here, Milana."
We enter into a long staring contest. My strength infuriates him. His face turns red and his fists clench. "You get Renzo on tape confessing or I'll kill you like I did Foster."
I can't hide my shock and a loud gasp passes in the silence of his office. "Foster's dead?" I whisper.
He nods and shuffles some of the garbage around on his desk. "He was a dirty cop. He screwed with you to bring me down. Now he's gone. Mess with one of mine, mess with me."
The lack of eye contact and his fidgeting with his papers make me think he's lying. I know now I can't trust him. "I don't believe it."
"Get your ass over to Renzo's place." He slams the desk. "Get it on tape and bring it back to me." He stomps around his desk and towers over me. "Do what I say or face the consequences."
I would not normally push him when he's on the brink like this, but I need him to lose his cool and tell me everything.
"Like Mom faced the consequences?" I say with venom in my voice. I want him to hear the truth. "Did you kill Mom for threatening to leave you?
His mouth clenches and sputters.
"If I threaten to leave, will you kill me too?"
